virtual schools

A pair of bills augmenting virtual charter school oversight passed in the Oklahoma House of Representatives Monday.

Last week, Oklahoma state senators braced for a debate on a school voucher bill that never came. Despite that, lawmakers did pass a litany of education bills through their chambers of origin.

Oklahoma lawmakers considered a trio of bills related to charter school oversight this week.

The move would be another step of reform for the beleaguered virtual charter school behemoth.

More than $9 million will be withheld by the state from Epic Charter Schools over the next calendar year because of the school's misrepresentation of some employees as teachers.

In the episode: Oklahoma takes part in at least five lawsuits against the Biden Administration over vaccine mandates, the state's new public health lab comes under federal scrutiny and more.

As traditional public school enrollment plummeted last year, charter school enrollment actually went up across the country. More than 10 percent of that total growth happened at one virtual charter school in Oklahoma.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics discusses the Pardon and Parole Board sending a recommendation to Governor Stitt for the commutation of inmate Julius Jones and Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett surviving a supreme court challenge trying to remove him from his position.

This Week in Oklahoma Politics, KOSU's Michael Cross talks with Republican Political Consultant Neva Hill and sitting in for Ryan Kiesel in ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Tamya Cox-Touré about the settlement between the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board and Epic Schools to avoid termination hearings along with new bills signed by the governor including one requiring a fiscal impact statement on initiative petitions and several more making it harder to get abortions.

Some major reforms are coming to Epic Charter Schools that will keep the virtual behemoth open, following a settlement agreement between Epic and the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter Board on Monday.